Newbie - Carbon or aluminium

Rhods

Hello all

After touring in france over the summer on a converted MTB, i have become hooked on cycling and can't wait to invest in my first road bike.

I will be looking to spend £500 to £1000, depending on the benefits spending more will bring. I have been looking at many favourites, such as the specialized allez and similarly priced aluminium frame bikes (i particulrly like cube's efforts!).

However, I have come accross Ribble and thier Dedacciai Nero Corsa carbon frame which comes in very well equipped at under £1000. Now, I have searched and found quite a few useful threads but would appreciate your views on whether it would be advisable to go with a carbon frame such as the Ribble (or others similarly priced), with great groupset, or an aluminium frame.

Thanks in advance and I'm very glad to have taken the plunge and joined a very informative and helpful forum.

Rhods

edeverett

If you'll want to be touring, make sure you look for a road bike which can take mudguards and a rack - most won't (especially carbon frames).

Have a look at the out going Giant SCR range where you might be able to get a bargain with the 2009 bikes coming in.

passout

I have the Nero Corsa and it's excellent - it rides beautifully and is killer value. It's very comfortable for all day rides, it could be used for racing but is clearly not a tourer. Think Racks & mudguards if that's what you want. The Salsa Casserole or some or the Surly bikes are do it all type machines which have these. The Ribble Winter Trainer and the Planet X range might be worth a look too.

You could tour on your MTB and get a proper (i.e. fast) road bike. On balance, I'd buy the Ribble.

Rhods

Sorry

I should explain. It won't be used for touring - i'd like to get in to proper road cycling.

It seems to me that ribble, planet x and focus are all great value. Are there any others i dhould be looking out for (Dolan?)? Is carbon the best way to go for a beginner at this price range?

Oh, and is th ribble 7005/7005sl worth a look before some of the bigger names?

I appreciate that these questions may be asked fairly often, but many thanks in advance.

richlong28

its worth checking out the boardman range in halfords bike hut, albeit halford they're speced out pretty well for their price, also if you order online you save yourself anbout £60 from the in store price.

big but though, boardman is releasing a '09 range so whether to wait until they're launched and buy one of them (prices aren't released yet) or you could wait until then and buy an '08 model for a reduced price

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Andy140

Then I rode a carbon bike. I bought it. In terms of keeping your teeth in your head it's totally worth it.

Agree - quite shocking how hard an alu bike is, especially after steel

spondonchris

also look at cannondale synapse carbon 105 2008 model. I bought one about 6 weeks ago and would recommend it. I'm no expert, but it seemed a pretty good deal at the time as I paid just under a grand on a special offer (should be £1350) try evans cycles website or leisure lakes

alfablue

I got a Planet-X SL Pro Carbon Dura Ace for £999, ride is smooth as silk, as comfy as my steel Dawes Audax, which I always considered to be my "comfy armchair" bike. I have a Ti bike and the carbon ride is smoother, though frame and tube design is probably the overriding factor.

Rhods

[/quote]I got a Planet-X SL Pro Carbon Dura Ace for £999[/quote]

I can only see these for around £1300.
The clubman seems more in my range.

Must say that some of the bigger brands look fantastic, but after reading up on the groupsets, it seems that it is worth sacrificing a name for quality parts if you budget doesn't allow for both.

Thanks for all your advice so far.

sicknote

Also have you seen this review

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Rhods

Thanks Phips, a later upgrade on a flashier frame may not hurt the wallet quite so much then!

Oh, by the way, I thought it may be useful to mention that I'm a bit heavier than your average hillclimber - I'm around the 15 and a half stone mark. Should this affect my decision on frame material or is weight more of a wheel issue?

Thanks again.

alfablue

Rhods wrote:

I got a Planet-X SL Pro Carbon Dura Ace for £999[/quote]

I can only see these for around £1300.
The clubman seems more in my range.

Must say that some of the bigger brands look fantastic, but after reading up on the groupsets, it seems that it is worth sacrificing a name for quality parts if you budget doesn't allow for both.

Thanks for all your advice so far.[/quote]Yes, they put the price up by £200 2 weeks ago when they stopped working with Cyclescheme, the offer price may return in the future. I think you may still be able to spec a 105 equipped SL for around £1000 though (under custom build section). Ribble's Nero Corsa with Ultegra for £999 currently looks like better value (obviously I have only experience of riding the P-X), though getting Ribble to be sufficiently enthusiastic to bother selling you one is another matter!

NWLondoner

alfablue wrote:

I got a Planet-X SL Pro Carbon Dura Ace for £999, ride is smooth as silk, as comfy as my steel Dawes Audax, which I always considered to be my "comfy armchair" bike. I have a Ti bike and the carbon ride is smoother, though frame and tube design is probably the overriding factor.

What was your experience like buying a bike off them??

Are their wheels good as well/

alfablue

NWLondoner wrote:

alfablue wrote:

I got a Planet-X SL Pro Carbon Dura Ace for £999, ride is smooth as silk, as comfy as my steel Dawes Audax, which I always considered to be my "comfy armchair" bike. I have a Ti bike and the carbon ride is smoother, though frame and tube design is probably the overriding factor.

What was your experience like buying a bike off them??

Are their wheels good as well/

The buying experience was very good, though not the usual one as I was buying through Cyclescheme, so it was a bit more complex..

A chap called Andy answered my many emailed questions often within minutes, always patient and helpful. The only thing that went a bit wrong is that the day I checked the build status for my bike online, it was saying 5 days, yet it turned up at my door that very day, well before I expected it! So not a bad problem really! The bike arrived perfectly set up.

The one thing to note is that if you email them you get an automated reply with details of who to email depending on the nature of your enquiry - I think some people don't read that email (or perhaps their email software puts it into junk mail) so they never get any further. Once you email the right person as advised, it all seems very efficient.

The wheels do seem to be very good (Planet-X model B's). They are very light and have incredibly smooth bearing, they ride really well. So far (just a few hundred miles) they have stayed perfectly true.

meagain

"Agree - quite shocking how hard an alu bike is, especially after steel"

Just because it's repeated over and over doesn't mean it's true....
Hard (whatever that MEANS) is nowt to do with the material from which the frame is made, all to do with HOW the materail made/manipulated and the shape/dimensions of the finished frameset.

Plenty of harsh steel bikes out there (853 I reckon) and even Ti (ever tried a Raleigh Timet pro circuit racer? - came out stiffest (least deflection around b/b) in one of the few even vaguely scientific tests I've ever seen).